United in Diversity – Joint message by AGSEV and ESVA
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
Dear Families,
This Easter we are saddened to reflect that there are bitter wars of diversity raging around
the world.
Racist, xenophobic and/or antisemitic acts, speech, and gestures on the part of very few
students have recently been reported to AGSEV by fellow parents. We are writing this
message of support for all our families to underline that these attitudes have no place in our
community.
Europe – and by extension our school – is home to people from a multitude of nations,
religions, skin colours, cultures, neurotypes, orientations and beliefs.
Our school was founded so that our children might be “educated side by side… untroubled
by divisive prejudices”. The European peace project is woven into the fabric of our school,
and our school communities are diverse by design.
We are all working together for the peaceful and prosperous future we want to see for our
children. We would ask our families during this Easter break to reflect on how we might all
play our part in the wider peace process by examining the language and attitudes which we
use to describe others.
We support the words of President von der Leyen when she says:
“We need to talk about racism. And we need to act. It is always possible to change direction
if there is a will to do so. I am glad to live in a society that condemns racism. But we should
not stop there. The motto of our European Union is: ‘United in diversity’. Our task it to live
up to these words, and to fulfil their meaning.”
– President von der Leyen, European Parliament, 17 June 2020
We wish you all a peaceful and happy holiday, and we look forward to the new beginning of
the spring term.
Kind regards,
AGSEV – Associazione dei Genitori della Scuola Europea di Varese
The Parents Association of the European School of Varese
and
Scuola Europea di Varese – European School of Varese
Please find the following links:
EU Legislation and Policies to address racial and ethnic discrimination
